You have something inside you, something some people call developing fetal tissue, something others call a human being with a soul. Something you didn’t count on. It is on your mind and in your body. You wonder whom to tell — your parents? Anyone? You wonder what to do.

Megan was that woman in June 1999, Daphne in July 2000. Both chose to have abortions. Megan, a 22-year-old Kent State graduate, is confident she made the right decision. Daphne, a 21-year-old Kent State student, felt certain at the time. But looking back, she has second thoughts.

Nationally, some 1.5 million women have abortions every year, according to the National Abortion Federation. The Ohio Department of Health says 37,041 abortions were performed statewide in 1999. Of these, 85 percent involved pregnancies of up to 12 weeks. And 53 percent involved women up to age 24.Abortion is the choice when a woman runs out of choices, says Jude Anderson, patient educator/counselor at the Akron Women’s Medical Group, the clinic where Megan and Daphne had abortions.

“No woman wants to have an abortion,” Anderson says. “That’s never her first choice. You have to do something that’s against every woman’s basic instinct to nurture.

”She says women most frequently have abortions because they cannot afford to raise a child. Some do not have insurance. Some simply are not ready to be mothers. Children need both emotional and financial support, Anderson stresses. And a woman who tries to raise a child before she’s ready exposes her infant to “an emotional desert.”

“Until a woman is prepared in her mind, she’s not prepared to be a mother. It’s an awesome task,” Anderson says. “I don’t care what their reasoning is. We won’t judge them.”

Continued>> [2] [3] [4] [5]